"The Matrix Online," Sega's attempt at a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, reminds me of the movie trilogy itself.

The second and third entries in the trilogy disappointed many viewers. Similarly, the game, commonly referred to as "MxO," is an interesting concept but one that probably only the most hardcore "Matrix" geeks are going to like and want to stay with.

The trilogy would seem to be a good fit with the concept of an MMORPG - creating items out of thin air, being able to instantly learn skills, lots of fight scenes. But ultimately it's too full of glitches and the usual MMORPG gameplay to really stand out from the crowd.

"MxO" takes place after the end of "The Matrix Revolutions," with a shaky truce between the rebels and the machines. Players start out by agreeing to take the "red pill" and begin their life in Metro World, the universe where "MxO" takes place.

They then choose their basic skill statistics, such as reason and logic, which will dictate how well their character will perform in certain classes. However, the game does a poor job explaining the actual effect of each of these stats; I found myself just randomly picking a set.

Among the classes available are hackers, who can send viruses and other nasties at enemies; coders, who combine the code of the Matrix to create weapons, clothing and even people to fight alongside them; and operatives, which allow players to become gunmen or kung fu experts. These classes roughly correspond with the classes in other MMORPGs.

Players start out completing missions, mostly fetching items, scouting buildings and escorting people around. Missions aren't too varied, so they get repetitive quickly, but they are the fastest way to gain experience points. They're kept interesting enough storywise, though, that the repetition isn't necessarily a chore.

Along the way, the player can choose which organization to side with: the human rebels, the machines or the group known as the exiles.

Probably the coolest aspect of "MxO" is the ability to change your character's skills on a whim. With one visit to a phone booth - where you log in and out, access the marketplace and tweak abilities - a player can go from being a coder to an operative. You can even mix and match, with a little bit of skill as a hacker and a little bit of a skill as a gunman or karate master.

However, those base stats you choose at the beginning are unchangeable, so a character originally a coder may not be as effective as an operative. Still, the freedom of choice is a nice change.

All of this sounds like it adds up to a fantastic MMORPG, but the reality is otherwise.

The world itself is gorgeous - if you can get your computer to run it. My computer is only about a year and a half old and has never had problems in other games, but in "MxO" I had to turn all the settings to their lowest just to get a choppy frame rate.

I can't imagine anyone with a less powerful computer trying to play. And there's just no excuse for that. Especially considering most of Metro World looks exactly the same. While it certainly feels Matrix-y, there is not much to differentiate one area from another. It's all one dark, dreary city full of tall buildings and broken-down cars.

The city's nonplayable residents get the same treatment; they all wear similar clothing and have similar features.

I also became increasingly frustrated by the number of glitches I encountered. There's nothing worse than stutter-running (because the frame rate keeps sizing up) your way to a building, only to discover that the door you have to go through for a mission is glitched and won't open.

Combat is given "The Matrix" treatment, complete with the movie's bullet-time effects and thwop sounds, and it's a thrill to see your character trading martial-arts blows with an enemy. But often the camera zoomed so far in that I couldn't see what I was doing. Bad camera angles are abundant.

For any fan of the trilogy, "The Matrix Online" could be a real treat - if it worked like it's supposed to. Sega has done a decent job of updating the game with events and videos that further the storyline, which helps "MxO" feel more like a living, breathing world.

Maybe in a year or so, if it's still around and Sega has had a chance to fix the significant problems, I won't regret having taken the red pill instead of the blue pill.